SXMElections.com

Member of Parliament De Weever defends Counter Part Policy.

>GREAT BAY:--- Independent Member of Parliament Cornelius de Weever is defending the Counterpart Legislation, which is a law and not just a policy.
MP De Weever explained that the ministry used the law in one case. "The company took us to court and government lost because according to the judge we did not have a policy on how the law would be used so the labor policy department wrote the Counterpart policy in consultation with the Social Economic Council and the Tripartite Committee.
"One business owner of this tri-partite committee volunteered to have this Counterpart Policy applied in his company," said MP De Weever Read more

Member Of Parliament De Weever Defends Counter Part Policy

GREAT BAY, St. Martin - Independent Member of Parliament Cornelius de Weever is defending the Counterpart Legislation, which is a law and not just a policy.

MP De Weever explained that the ministry used the law in one case.

"The company took us to court and government lost because according to the judge we did not have a policy on how the law would be used so the labor policy department wrote the Counterpart policy in consultation with the Social Economic Council and the Tripartite Committee.

"One business owner of this tri-partite committee volunteered to have this Counterpart Policy applied in his company," said MP De Weever Read more

Sarah: Gumbs twisted truth about screening

PHILIPSBURG--"I had nothing to do with the actual screening of the Gumbs Cabinet ministers, and the Prime Minister knows this full well," stated Democratic Party (DP) Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams in a statement Tuesday.

"After all, he was not only informateur, he himself was candidate minister Read more

Dp-Leader Criticizes Heyliger’S Statements On Concession Fees

St. Maarten – Democratic Party MP  Sarah Wescot-Williams questions that United People’s party leader Theo Heyliger has no knowledge of the draft 2015 budget that has been sent to the governor and is from thereon on its way to parliament Read more

Dp Wants Answers About Housing Foundation

St. Maarten – Democratic Party MP Sarah Wescot-Williams has repeated her questions about the Sint Maarten Housing Foundation, wondering when Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs will find the time to answer them Read more

Frans joins UP-led coalition, gets Justice Ministry portfolio

PHILIPSBURG--The United People's (UP)-led coalition again has the support of ten Members of Parliament (MPs) as of Monday morning when United St. Maarten (US) party leader MP Frans Richardson signed on to the coalition.

Richardson signed on with the "100 per cent support" of his party's board Read more

Middle class decline looms over final years of Obama presidency

DALTON, Georgia--Barack Obama enters the final two years of his presidency with a blemish on his legacy that looks impossible to erase: the decline of the middle class he has promised to rescue.
  The revival of middle-class jobs has been one of Obama's mantras since he took office in 2009 fighting the worst economic crisis in generations. It was a major theme of his last State of the Union address and is expected to feature in the one scheduled for Tuesday.
  Administration officials said on Saturday the president would propose higher capital gains taxes, new fees on large financial firms, and other measures to raise $320 billion for programs and tax breaks aimed at the middle class.
  Obama's administration can take credit for stabilizing the U.S Read more

Japan opposition Democrats turn to familiar face to try to turn fortunes

TOKYO--Japan's opposition Democratic Party elected former foreign minister Katsuya Okada as its leader on Sunday, turning to a familiar face to try to persuade voters it can again become a viable alternative to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling party.

Okada, 61, must try to repair the Democratic Party of Japan's (DPJ) battered image two years after Abe led his conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to power pledging to revive the economy and strengthen defence policies.

"I want to make the DPJ a party that the people believe can take responsibility for a change in government, and fight fairly and firmly with Abe's LDP," Okada told a party convention after his election to the post he held a decade ago.

A mix of former LDP members, ex-socialists and centrists, the DPJ surged to power in 2009 on a promise to focus on consumers rather than big firms and other vested interests Read more

Sarah: Hassink has ‘no choice’

~But to release BTP report~

PHILIPSBURG--The recent call by Bureau Telecommunication and Post (BTP) to government to make publicly available the Government Accountants Bureau SOAB report, appraisal reports and advice on the bureau to put an end to fraud allegations has left Finance Minister Martin Hassink "no choice" but to explain to Parliament the hierarchical structure of BTP, said Democratic Party (DP) Leader Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams in a statement Sunday.

"I eagerly await the Finance Minister's reaction to this sudden outburst by BTP," Wescot-Williams said.

BTP said in a press statement on Friday that neither its present supervisory board nor management "ever took a decision to purchase a building Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Parliament has been asked in an indirect way to give the Government of St. Maarten some time to get its feet wet, but events in rapid succession are demanding Parliament's attention, and government is called to respond with equal urgency.
How else can one explain the sudden outburst by the Bureau Telecommunication and Post (BTP) in the press of Saturday, January 17th?
To understand the anomaly of this and put this matter in perspective, we need to understand the organization of the institution BTP.
This institution is created by law to execute a public task Read more

Sarah still awaits answers about housing foundation

PHILIPSBURG--It has been a month and Democratic Party (DP) Member of Parliament (MP) Sarah Wescot-Williams is still waiting on answers from government, in particular Public Housing Minister Marcel Gumbs, to her questions about whether St Read more

DP to continue with draft timeshare laws

PHILIPSBURG--Democratic Party (DP) will "pick up" the two draft initiative laws on the establishment of a timeshare authority and the regulation of the sector submitted to Parliament in its first sitting by former DP Member of Parliament Leroy de Weever.

DP leader MP Sarah Wescot-Williams informed Parliament Chairman Dr Read more

Sarah questions Dutch Secret Service role in cabinet screening

PHILIPSBURG--The exact role the Dutch Secret Service played in the screening of minister candidates for the Gumbs Cabinet is questioned by Democratic Party (DP) Leader Member of Parliament (MP) Sarah Wescot-Williams in a letter sent this week to Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs.

She seeks answers to the Dutch Secret Service's role in the screening, whether theirs was a one-time involvement, or will this continue for subsequent cabinets and how the service's role is "formalized nationally."

Her request to the prime minister for answers "has nothing to do" with the persons who were subjected to the screening process, but are directed to "the process" used to screen them.

Dutch Minister for Interior Affairs and Kingdom Relations Roland Plasterk was quoted by the media as saying that ministers sworn-in on December 19, 2014, were "subjected with the assistance of employees of the Dutch secret service to an extra-severe screening."

Wescot-Williams framed her questions to the prime minister based on Plasterk's statement and St Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Leader of the Democratic Party and Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot Williams has sent a letter to Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs asking for an explanation on the screening of Ministers that were installed on December 19th, 2014 Read more

Dp Faction To Give Attention To Draft Timeshare Ordinances

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - Leader of the Democratic Party MP Sarah Wescot-Williams Wednesday confirmed that on Wednesday she informed the chairman of Parliament of her faction's intention to pick up the draft timeshare initiative laws and continue with the process.

According to MP Wescot-Williams, as is the case with initiative laws, the initiators are responsible for the process.

It is also customary that a faction can continue the process, started by one or more of its members, no longer in Parliament, as is the case with these drafts.

I also informed Minister Conner of my intentions and suggested that we meet to plan the way forward with these drafts.

I did so to avoid any overlapping and or doubling of efforts Read more

Mp Wescot-Williams Seeks Information Of Closure Of Screening Process For Ministers

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - The leader of the Democratic Party, MP the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams Wednesday expressed concern with what she believes is the none transparent manner in which the screening process conducted by the Governor of St Read more

NA call for MP Matser’s ‘immediate’ resignation

PHILIPSBURG--The "immediate resignation" of United People's (UP) party Member of Parliament (MP) Silvio Matser has been called for by the National Alliance (NA) Board.

The call, issued Tuesday, comes a week after the Court of First Instance sentenced the first-term MP to 24 months, 18 of which were suspended, on three years' probation and 240 hours of community service, for tax evasion Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- The Board of the National Alliance calls for the immediate resignation of United People's Party Member of Parliament Mr. Silvio Matser. The National Alliance Board is of the opinion, that in light of the verdict that has been handed down to MP Matser by the Court on Wednesday January 7th, 2015, to 2 years for 'tax evasion', that the honorable thing to do would be to step down and relinquish his seat to the people of Sint Maarten.

Sint Maarten has faced extensive challenges in maintaining integrity in its Governance and considering that being elected to Parliament, the highest body in our governmental structure; it would be yet another gross injustice and ill representation of the people of Sint Maarten to have a convicted Member of Parliament continue to retain his seat in light of such a sentence.
This cannot be the state of 'readiness' that the United People's Party chanted to the people of Sint Maarten throughout the election period.

The board of the National Alliance believes that it is critical for the people of Sint Maarten to be reminded, that within 3 weeks after the Elections of 2014, the National Alliance, Democratic Party & the United St Read more

Board Of The National Alliance Requesting The Immediate Resignation Of Mp Silvio Matser

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - The Board of the National Alliance calls for the immediate resignation of United People's Party Member of Parliament Mr. Silvio Matser.

The National Alliance Board is of the opinion, that in light of the verdict that has been handed down to MP Matser by the Court on Wednesday January 7th, 2015, to 2 years for 'tax evasion', that the honorable thing to do would be to step down and relinquish his seat to the people of Sint Maarten.

Sint Maarten has faced extensive challenges in maintaining integrity in its Governance and considering that being elected to Parliament, the highest body in our governmental structure; it would be yet another gross injustice and ill representation of the people of Sint Maarten to have a convicted Member of Parliament continue to retain his seat in light of such a sentence Read more

Dp:  “A Dark Day For All Of Us” (Charlie Hebdo)

St. Maarten – The Democratic Party is the first political party to react to the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack in Paris. In a brief statement, party-leader Sarah Wescot-Williams offers its condolences as well as sympathy to our country’s French neighbors.

“The Democratic Party of St Read more

>How blessed we are! For the 10th consecutive year, we are enjoying the freedom and leadership committed to conjointly observing a National Day of Prayer. I am proud to have been part of the Executive Council that in 2005 instituted this day and I thank the different denominations for upholding the tradition unwaveringly.
This we do, respecting the constitutionally enshrined right of freedom of religion of all, but also respecting the premise and preamble of the same constitution, our unified belief in the Almighty.

I truly believe that a government should have its ears to the ground and respect the individual freedoms of all, but ultimately it should be the norms and values that the majority of us hold dear that should set the tone.
The National Day of Prayer in addition to its religious connotation, is also an opportunity for reflection and for resolution.
Consciously, this day is held at the beginning of the year, giving ourselves another opportunity for resolve and recovery, and the will to stay the course.
Neither as a member of Parliament nor as a citizen, it is to me to judge any-one else, but rather to provide guidance and to stand up for the values we hold dear as a community Read more

Sarah: January 7 ‘dark day for all’

PHILIPSBURG--January seven was “a dark day for all of us,” said Democratic Party (DP) Leader Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams in a condolence message to the family of the victims of the tragic shooting at the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, the French Republic and all of Europe impacted by the events on Wednesday.

“In a very special way, we empathize with our French St Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- The Democratic Party of St. Maarten expresses its heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims of the Charlie Hebdo tragedy in France, to the French Republic and all its citizens in Europe and abroad, and in a very special way, we empathize with our French St. Martin brothers and sisters.
It's a dark day for all of us. As the tragedy continues to unfold in France in view of the whole world, we on our island are sadly reminded of the volatile times we live in Read more

Democratic Party Of St. Maarten Speaks On Terrorist Attack In France

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - The Democratic Party of St. Maarten expresses its heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims of the Charlie Hebdo tragedy in France, to the French Republic and all its citizens in Europe and abroad, and in a very special way, we empathize with our French St. Martin brothers and sisters.

It's a dark day for all of us. As the tragedy continues to Read more